Regular Capitol View readers will recall our portrait of Sunny, the State Patrol explosives-sniffing dog that worked over the House chamber the day the Legislature opened.

And, well, the dogs were back in the House today. Republican Rep. Pat Garafalo brought a couple of them in from the Last Hope shelter in Farmington to help make his plea for tax relief — this time for sales taxes levied on adoption fees at charitable animal shelters.

“It’s pretty silly to have a free-will donation subject to sales taxes,” Garafalo said, after the committee laid over his bill for inclusion in an eventual omnibus tax bill.

“I think it was very well received,” Garafalo said after the hearing, which included included some barking as part of the testimony.